


lark my beloved

by charbes



Category: Outlawed - Anna North
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Spoilers, agnes rose and news and elzy r all here too but they dont really get any dialogue, henry and lark are gay, i dont remember anyones last names or even if they were said in the book so. oh well, there r spoilers so bad for the book so, this is lark centric, um. happy first outlawed fic on this site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:12:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29852370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charbes/pseuds/charbes
Summary: this is just a fix-it fic for outlawed bc im insane.
Relationships: Ada Magnusson & Lark, Lark/Henry
Kudos: 2





	lark my beloved

**Author's Note:**

> uh. there r big spoilers <3 i just think some of them deserved better. if there are typos no there arent.

Maybe the robbery could have gone better.

Okay. The robbery definitely could have gone better. But no one accounted for the extra clerk—he wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place, but he was, which made things all the more complicated—, nor the fact that other people might need to come into the bank and sort some matters, _nor_ the fact that Lark was going to come along on the expedition.

And no one _really_ anticipated anyone would get shot.

So, now the Hole in the Wall gang is racing back to their camp, Ada situated in the middle of the formation, while Lark drifts in and out of consciousness and hugs his arms loosely around her waist.

It’s a clamor of “How is he holding up?” and “Oh, that looks bad, Ada,” and so forth when they arrive. It goes in one ear out the other for Lark. He knows that he should be scared—the girls, for the most part, sound scared enough on his behalf—but he doesn’t get a chance to think about it too deep, because someone is helping him down from Amity and there’s searing pain in his left side. He can’t pinpoint where, exactly, but it fucking hurts. He makes a weird noise, somewhere between a groan and a sob.

Before he knows it, he’s horizontal, surrounded by the gang. They’re all looking down at him like he’s some sort of hurt animal, all weary and sympathetic. He wiggles his fingers at his side, a pathetic little wave, and gives a smile. One of the girls—Agnes, he knows her well—, returns it halfheartedly.

“Lark,” a voice at his side says, sternly, “don’t go to sleep, okay? You’ll have to stay awake. It’s not- it’s not horrible-,” Ada is rummaging through her bag, “but it’s not good.”

He does his best, _does_ stay awake—Ada pokes and prods at him and brings too much fresh pain for sleep to even be a possibility. After what feels like hours, Ada sits at the foot of his bed. Most of the others have left the room, one by one, aside from Agnes and News, who’ve taken to sitting on the floor.

Lark’s eyes drift to Ada. He opens his mouth and quickly closes it. Too tired for words. He settles on lifting his eyebrows, just slightly, and making an “mm?” noise in her direction. _Is it bad?_

“You’ll be okay,” is the simple answer. There has to be more, because Ada shifts, almost uncomfortably.

He furrows his brows this time. _Tell me more, doc._

Ada puts a hand on his leg, as if that’ll do something. It does work to settle him a bit. “Your shoulder’s... messed up. And your side.”

Lark blinks slowly.

“You’ll just need to rest, for a while. Take it slow. You need to be careful... don’t want to undo any of the stitches or hurt yourself more.” A little pause. “Might need to stay in bed for a couple days, at the very least, but you’ll be surprised how time flies.”

He makes a face. _Two days is a long time._

“I promise it won’t be so bad. We’ll come sit and talk to you,” Ada gives a little glance to News and Agnes, then back at Lark, “and before you know it you’ll feel better.”

Lark takes a deep breath, then lolls his head around a bit on his pillow. Conscious effort. ”Okay.” The sound of his own voice confuses him for a second, so tired it’s almost foreign, but it passes as soon as it came.

Ada breaks into a grin, the first one since Fiddleback. He’d return it if he wasn’t so damn tired. “Okay. If you need anything, get me, alright? And if I’m not around, tell someone to get me. And if no one can find me, for whatever reason, someone else should be able to manage.”

He gives a little hum and a nod. “Thanks.”

“Always. You’ll need those bandages replaced soon. Later tonight, probably.”

Another nod.

Ada sighs and stands up. News and Agnes follow suit. “I’m getting out of your hair for now, don’t worry. You can sleep now, if you want. It’ll help.”  
—  
The resting did help. Ada was right, for the most part—staying in bed for a long time isn’t so horrible, talking does help pass the time—, but only when he had someone sitting with him. Otherwise, minutes felt like hours. 

But usually Ada would come and sit and tell him about her day, or ponder about her family back at Fairchild, or ask him if he thought he was healing up well enough, and that helped. And sometimes Agnes and News would come talk to him instead, either apart or together. Mostly it was just those three.

It’s been three days. He settled with Ada on staying in bed just one more day, to be safe, even if he felt like he was going to go crazy not moving around, because it really would do him good. And Agnes and News took Ada’s side, and he couldn’t exactly argue with all of them. 

He gets dressed and wanders out into the main room, hands in his pant pockets. There’s a dull ache in his side.

Elzy is milling about. She doesn’t give much attention to him, other than to mutter a “good morning” and to ask him how he’s feeling. He’s been getting asked that more than he expected. Not that it’s bad, just... surprising, that they would even care to check on him.

He hangs around inside, maybe for a bit too long, then steps outside into the sunlight. It’s nice, refreshing, especially considering he’s been cooped up for a bit. “Take it easy,” he reminds himself under his breath as he leans up against the front wall of the house, putting his weight on his right shoulder. 

He closes his eyes and stays like that for who knows long, until the sound of hoofbeats catches his attention. He cracks his eyes open, just in time to catch News hop off of Charity. A second horse and rider come up, then stop beside Charity. 

News and the person on the other horse talk for a moment, then the other dismounts, and the pair start to walk towards the house.

Lark straightens a bit, waves his good hand at News, then looks to the newcomer. And then raises his hand over his head, waving it wildly.

“Henry! Hey!” He doesn’t even get more than five steps away from the house before he’s wrapped up in a hug. He sort of laughs, mostly winces, and Henry quickly lets go.

“Lark! Jesus, you’re already up and walking? News, she told me Fiddleback went south. How are you? _Jesus_.” Henry‘s talking a mile a minute, half mumbling, holding tight to each of Lark’s forearms. “You alright?”

“I’m fine. Needed fresh air before I lost it, otherwise I’d be sittin’ around inside. Ada’ll round me back up, eventually.”

Henry gives a little nod. “Yeah. Okay.” And then, quieter, “I missed you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lark replies, near matter-of-factly, then just as quiet, “missed you too.”

They stand there for a second, then News brushes past them, making a point to jostle Henry. He gives her a weird, half-embarrassed grin, and drops Lark’s arms. “Anyways. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Well.”

“Well, you know what I mean.”

Lark gives a little nod, glances around. “Yeah. Did y’all see Ada on your way in?”

Henry makes a confused face, then lights up after he connects the dots in his head. ”Nope, didn’t see her. Didn’t see anyone, actually.”

“Damn. That’s alright.” He shoots a grin at Henry and takes one of his hands. “You know, she’s my wife. Ada.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“She _is!_ “ He insists, laughing as Henry squeezes his hand.  
—  
The following couple of weeks or so pass with... a lot of trouble.

For one, Hole in the Wall got ambushed by a handful of sheriffs and their respective posses. The Kid was fucked up for a while, but they got better with time. And now the gang was wanted widespread, and for a much, _much_ higher price.

The dust settled after that, for the most part.

Lark’s busying himself in the barn, tending the horses. It was the first thing he did when he was able to do real work. He likes to do it, likes the quiet. And it smells nice. Well, it smells like horseshit, mostly, but it doesn’t particularly bug him. 

He’s cooing something at Temperance right now, just absentmindedly talking to her while he tidies up her stall, replacing hay.

He’s too focused on his work to notice Ada enter, doesn’t even hear her walk up.

“Hey. How are you holding out?”

He jumps, then laughs, all embarrassedly. “God, Ada, say somethin’ next time.” He half-leans on his pitchfork. “I’m well. Nothing hurts all the time anymore, really. Side’s a lot better. Scar looks nice.”

Ada gives a little nod, reaches to pet Temperance’s neck. “Good to hear.”

He drums a bit on the handle of his pitchfork. “Are you still goin’ to the Springs?” It’s been out in the air for a while. A little bit of him dreads it, having to see Ada gone, but it’s not like she just started talking about it yesterday. 

There’s a beat. He wishes he hadn’t changed the subject.

“I think so.” She answers, then thinks for a second. “Yeah. Even if I’m leaving, I’ll be back to visit, you know? And if you ever need anything, you can find me. I’ll give you directions.”

“I know.” He looks at his feet. “You promise to be careful out there?”

“Well, of course. You promise to be careful out here?”

Lark laughs, just softly. “Yeah. Always. I’d hate to leave you a widow.”

Ada rolls her eyes and shoots a grin at him. “Sure. How’s Faith?”

“She’s doing pretty good,” he gives a half glance to Faith’s stall, “can’t do as much right now, doubt she’ll be able to do anything more serious than a trail ride anymore... but she’s good.”

“That’s good. Texas’ll be grateful.” Ada wanders over to Faith’s stall, holding her hand out to pet her muzzle. “You know, Hole in the Wall could use a veterinarian. Texas tends the horses, but it’s a lot of work for one person. I could put in a word with the Kid.”

Lark lights up a bit. “That’d be great. I mean, I was never a veterinarian, just an assistant, but... yeah. Yeah, that’d be real great.”

“I’ll talk to them about it for you.” Ada rocks on her heels a bit, looking around the barn, taking it in as if she won’t see it again. “I’ll see you later, then?”

Lark gives a little nod. “You should.” A little pause. “Can you put in a good word for Henry, you think?”

Ada pretends to consider it for a second, then shrugs. “Pretty sure I can.”

Lark watches her as she leaves, then gets back to work.


End file.
